In the Civil War, Rowlesburg became a strategically important river town because control of the B&O Railroad and its bridges was vital to Lincoln's war plan and to the link between the Army of the Potomac and volunteers from Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. After an earlier unsuccessful Confederate move toward Rowlesburg in 1861, the town's garrison was eventually reduced to about 300 men under Major John Showalter. On April 26, 1863, Confederate General W.E. Jones led 1500 cavalry in an attack on Rowlesburg as part of the Jones-Imboden Raid, aiming to destroy the key bridges over the Cheat River. Jones divided his force, sending fewer than 100 dismounted men over Palmer's Knob toward the railroad bridge in town while Colonel Green advanced by the River Road to drive in pickets and break the Union perimeter. Near a point known as The Cliffs, Union defenders blocked the road with logs, and Lieutenant McDonald ordered riflemen to fire. Green's men fell back, tried again with dismounted troops armed with carbines, and then attempted to circle above the Union position, but the line held with help from Lieutenant Hathaway's Company K., including about 20 citizens according to one source. Fighting continued at intervals from midafternoon until dark as Union troops and townspeople stubbornly held their positions. Jones eventually accepted defeat, withdrew, and left the town and its bridges intact. Rowlesburg thus preserved "Lincoln's Lifeline" and stood as the only principal target of the raid in western Virginia to withstand the Confederate attack and emerge unscathed.